1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to electrochemical batteries in general and, in particular, to a bar for connecting together two plate straps of the same polarity on an electrochemical battery.
2. Description of the Related Art
A standard electrochemical battery can have either one cell or multiple cells connected together within a container. The cells can be either two, four, six, or eight in number. On each plate, there is usually a single plate tab which extends above the bath.
For example, in FIG. 1 showing one of the earliest prior art devices, a plate 10 of either positive or negative polarity has a single tab 12 on its left top corner to which electricity in the plate 10 flows when a load is applied to the battery. The direction of electrical flow is designated by an arrow E. This prior art device shown in FIG. 1 typifies the battery plate illustrated in FIG. 1 of Swiss Pat. No. 3,329 issued on Feb. 26, 1891, to Scholler et al.
In order to obtain a more uniform utilization of the electrochemical reactions, there was later developed a prior art arrangement in which one set of positive plates 10 had each of the tabs 12 aligned on one top corner while a second set of negative plates 10 had each of its tabs aligned on an opposite bottom corner. Such a prior art arrangement is not shown in the drawings, but is typified by the batteries illustrated in British Pat. No. 3,113 issued on Feb. 5, 1897, to Von Berks et al. and in German Pat. No. 372,773 issued on Apr. 3, 1923, to Tsuji et al.
A still later development in the prior art is shown in FIG. 2 in which a plate 20 of either positive or negative polarity has a first tab 22 on its left top corner and a second tab (not shown) on its right top corner. Third and fourth tabs 24 are provided on its bottom corners. The purposes of this prior art development were threefold: first, to reduce plate buckling; second, to provide continuity of electrical flow if any one connection is broken; and third, to make the unit more stable by having the plates rest on the bottom of the container. This prior art development is typified by U.S. Pat. No. 2,511,943 issued on June 20, 1950, to Reed and by U.S. Pat. No. 3,518,127 issued on June 30, 1970, to Aronson.
In this later prior art development shown in FIG. 2, the top left tabs 22 are connected together by a first so-called plate strap (not shown) and the top right tabs (not shown) are also connected together by their individual plate straps, likewise not shown. Each top plate strap is then connected to its respective terminal post (not shown) of either positive or negative polarity. The bottom plate straps are not connected to any terminal posts. Each terminal post extends outside the battery casing and conventionally protrudes from a top panel of the battery casing.
However, it is also known to have each terminal post extend from opposite side panels of the battery casing. Such battery casings on which the terminal posts are mounted on the sides thereof are shown in the following disclosures: U.S. Pat. No. 2,132,793 issued on Oct. 11, 1938, to Kyle; U.S. Pat. No. 3,484,290 issued on Dec. 16, 1969, to Knight; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,711,335 issued on Jan. 16, 1973, to Daniel.
Nevertheless, despite all these advances in the prior art, persons skilled in battery technology are still attempting to improve the electrical characteristics of batteries under load conditions.